PKK leader, three prisoners apply to ECtHR against communication ban

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Attorneys of four convicts at İmralı prison, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, have applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against the communications bans at the prison.

The bans have become "aggravated and continuous" during the pandemic, which violates the prohibition of inhuman treatment, according to the Asrın Law Bureau. The lawyers requested the ECtHR to urgently examine the application and give a decision of injunction.

Releasing a written statement, the law office said the communication bans, which were implemented against their clients with "unlawful decisions and reasons" created a more worrying situation with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The attorneys noted that they also applied to the Constitutional Court with the same request on June 19 and their application was rejected on July 22 on the grounds that "It cannot be said that there is a serious material or moral danger against the applicants' lives requiring immediate action."

After the Constitutional Court's decision, they applied to the ECtHR.

In a previous decision regarding an issue related to Öcalan, the ECtHR ruled in 2014 that the aggravated life sentence regime in Turkey violated the European Convention on Human Rights Article 3 on the prohibition of torture.

"The World Health Organization has statements about the Covid-19 pandemic, and the CPT has a statement of principles to be applied in prisons under the pandemic conditions. The Ministry of Justice has also taken precautionary decisions and issued circulars on this issue. However, these principles and decisions were not implemented in the İmralı Prison," the Asrın Law Bureau stated.

Öcalan was able to have a phone call with his family only on April 27 "after public pressure," the bureau said. In that phone talk, Öcalan had said, "Our condition is good right now. But I don't know what will happen from now on," according to the statement.

Öcalan met with attorneys in August 2019 for the last time. The other prisoners at İmralı have not been able to meet with their attorneys for five years. (AS/VK)